Menu

Category Archives: Uncategorized

This week was a killer week! We did great! We actually were able to take the mission president out to a lesson with us and teach a lesson to one of our newish investigators. And he set her with a baptismal date! It was awesome to see a mission president teaching in action! She then came to church with us and brought her kids. She has young kids so sacrament meeting was kinda challenging for her, but by the end her three kids didn’t want to leave and Melissa loved it too! It was awesome!

That’s super awesome! My week was super good! We found more than we have our entire time here. Things are going well. We’re working on improving the zone right now and the mission president is really keeping track of us. We just got transfer calls and we are going to have 3 companionships training this transfer. Elder Lykins and I will be staying.

We have gotten loads of rain! It’s super cool! But kinda annoying at this point! haha I love you bunches mom! and I hope your week is great! I’ll make sure to send a letter sometime this week!

Lehi’s Dream of the tree of life (found in 1st Nephi 8) is a commonly read and interpreted chapter of the scriptures. The other night during our nightly planning session I felt as though I should read it, so I planned to do so in personal study the next day. It was a GREAT study! The Phrase that stuck out to me from the chapter was, “But we heeded them not.-1st Nephi 8:33”

There is so much power in that short statement. As you may recall in Lehi’s vision there is a group of individuals who found the iron rod, pressed forward to the tree of life clinging to the iron rod until the found and partook of the fruit of the tree of life. Immediately after they partook of the tree they were ashamed. After I read this I was honestly confused. Why would this group that was so adamant about partaking of the fruit instantly be ashamed? The next couple of verses shed light on why they were ashamed. They say,

“26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.
27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.
28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.” These saints couldn’t handle the heat of mocking from the popular, worldly people.

Do we ever find ourselves struggling in the same way these saints did? I bet the answer is yes for everyone. There have assuredly been times that I have felt discouraged to press onward. My major testing grounds were in high school, and probably are still going today. I can remember time after time when people tried to make fun of our religion, and other times when they actually would. It still happens and will most likely never stop. What can stop however is our “heedment.” We must be like Paul, “not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;(Romans 1:16)” We must also be like the soldiers of Moroni, “they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ.(Alma 46:21)”

This week was freezing in the Mojave Desert! Not to all of you back home in Colorado I assume though. But to a person acclimated to the Southern California cold it is for sure! This week Elder Lykins and I witnessed a couple of miracles. The two I’d like to share are the ones that happened on Saturday.

Saturday was a cold and wet day, and in the evening we were driving around and I felt the prompting that we should probably go to Walmart. So we did! Super random prompting right? It was. We still went and walked around and could really find our purpose… After walking around for maybe 20 minutes we decided that it might be best to leave, but the Spirit told us to stay just a little bit longer. So we did and we looked in the jewelry section. Then all the sudden a walmart employee started talking to us. So we talked a little bit and found out that she grew up in an active LDS home but wasn’t really affiliated with the church anymore. Needless to say we found our purpose.

Then a couple minutes after that we were driving towards our apartment and saw this big husky run across the road with a young adult in her pajamas running towards her dog. So we got out in the pouring rain and helped her get her dog. It took us about 30 minutes and we were about a mile away from our car once we finally caught it. But it was awesome. On the way back we got her contact info and she will be contacted sometime soon in the future. We are super excited to see where she goes.

I love all the support you all provide for me and I’d like to thank you and share with you that I know the Lord’s work is being accomplished through missionary work. Especially in the Ridgecrest Zone of the Bakersfield Mission. The Lord’s Kingdom has again been restored in it’s fullness.

Yesterday was an amazing Christmas! I sure hope that everyone feels the same way about it! I am fully restocked on slacks until the end of my mission! woohoo! The video call home was amazing! I’m already tempted to start the countdown until my next call! On Christmas morning my companion and I invited the other set of Elders serving in Ridgecrest to open presents with us. It was almost like a big family celebration! We enjoyed our time.

This week one of my favorite families from Palmdale came and fed me for Christmas. It was awesome! We had a great time.

This week was jam packed with things to do! Here’s what we did everyday.

Tuesday- worked hard in our area

Wednesday- We went up to the town of Bishop to help the missionaries that are struggling in that area

Thursday- Weekly planning and then we took the trip to Palmdale right after for the departing temple trip

Friday- I was in Lancaster all day working with my MTC companion Elder Hulet who is also a Zone Leader. Because Elder Fernandes was at the temple for his trip.

Saturday- We worked and had our baptismal interview for this Saturday.

Sunday- We heard from yet another General Authority Elder Costa of the 70. we actually had a personal meeting with him since we’re the only Zone Leaders in the Ridgecrest stake. It was so awesome! I learned so much from him.

Hi everyone! we had an awesome week this week. Guess who came to visit us? That’s right Elder Bednar did with his companion Elder Ardurn of the 70. It was so fun! And such a great learning experience. Elder Bednar told us multiple times that we need to listen to the things that were not being said. Which is so insightful. He also told us to pay attention to the pattern of which he was teaching. He is probably one of the best teachers on the Planet.

After the meeting my companion and I and about 8 other missionaries went to Wingstop and had some wings. I had Atomic… They were so hot! haha

Elder Ardurn was also a super awesome speaker! I loved his talk. He spoke here in Ridgecrest at Stake conference the day after. His message was primarily on members and missionaries working together. It was terrific. I gained many insights!!

I love you all a ton. Thank you so much for supporting me on my mission!

I’ve been transferred into a new place! I am in the city of Ridgecrest, CA that is about two hours from any other cities in the mission! My companion Elder Fernandes has been here for two transfers and is going to finish his mission after this transfer. We’re having lots of fun. I’ll tell you all more information next week! My new address is in the signature!!

This week was pretty awesome! We had a baptism even though there were tons of trials throughout the week to prevent it. The person’s name we baptized is Frankie, he’s 23 and has Autism and other disabilities, but he is the happiest person ever. His baptism was so amazing! Our plans didn’t follow through perfectly, but they went well enough to feel the spirit STRONGLY the whole time. The font actually drained after we filled it up, so we had to fill it up again right before the baptism, then it drained throughout the service. So when we tried to baptize Frankie it didn’t work. We had to fill the font during the service. Then after two attempts more attempts I went into the font to help the baptist baptize Frankie. On our second attempt together we made it happen.

Frankie is baptized!
Then yesterday he was confirmed a member of the True Church of Jesus Christ (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). I also during Sacrament meeting had the opportunity to share my testimony with the ward. It was terrific, I love being a missionary! It has been a happy week.

I love you all so much and thank you all for the support you continually give me! I want you to know that I know that Heavenly Father cares about all of us more than we could ever comprehend. Jesus Christ came to this Earth to save us from the mistakes that we will in evidently make. And also that their church is here on the Earth with the true Priesthood Authority.

I loved General Conference a ton! I had so many favorites! Probably my favorite messages were the ones based on missionary work and on focusing on the mark. It’s so good to know that Jesus Christ leads our church! I can’t wait until the Ensign comes for this conference.

Here are some pictures from this week!

One is of all the Elders in our zone wearing a red tie to conference, so we had to take a picture! Another is all of us participating in Floral Friday for District Meeting. and then the other is our faces when we get mail!! yay!

PS I did however put a hole into a wall last week and I’ll need to pay for it sooner or later. It’ll probably cost about $75 I feel super bad about it, and have resolved never to do handstand pushups again haha. I am super excited about everything back home!

This week has been great! Our area doubled in population and we worked pretty hard! Transfers happened and our new district is awesome! We now have four companionships three Spanish and one English (us). I am no longer the District Leader. It’s actually a really good thing since we have a lot of good things going on in our area currently, so now I can focus a little more on Elder Gold’s and my area. We have lots of new people we are working with. We are doing great!

You guessed it! I am not getting transferred! Which means that I am going to be in the Palmdale 4th Ward for more than a quarter of my mission! I love this ward. We had our highly anticipated baptism this week!! It was an amazing service! We all felt the spirit so well. It has been a great week in the mission.

Recently President Layton asked us to read the Book of Mormon in 65 days. I’ve been reading about 9 pages a day. It is so awesome to read the Book of Mormon so quickly! This is the first time in my entire life that I’ve read the Book of Mormon like this. Today I was reading in 2nd Nephi 9 and 10 and I loved it! Those chapters are full of so much amazing doctrine! Here’s some of my favorite Verses

Chapter 9 Verse 26. For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.

Chapter 10 Verse 24. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.

It is finally the last week of this transfer! If you are planning on sending mail this week send it to the mission office. (3512 Coffee Rd Ste B, Bakersfield, CA 93308) This week was eventful, on Tuesday my companion fell off his bike when we were going down this hill in Palmdale and hurt his shoulder and head a little bit. So for the majority of Tuesday we were in doctors offices taking care of him. Then on Wednesday we were instructed to take him to the ER by the medical coordinator because we thought he had bleeding in the brain… But he is okay! haha We are doing great! This week we should have a baptism and I’ll send you all pictures! I love you all! Thank you!

I have been in this ward for such a long time! Almost 6 months! I am loving this area and the work is going so well! I thank you all for your support!

Pictures: This week we had a Missionwide Meeting for District Leaders only and this is a picture of my Trainer (Elder Mayer (DL), Elder Rojo (AP), Me (DL), and Elder Parsons (DL)). Every person my trainer trained became a leader in the mission. I am so glad that he did such a great job!

This week has been great! I decided that I would send out an email like I used to send out at the beginning of my mission.

This email is titled Jesus Praying in Gethsemane.

Even as a missionary I am just astonished at the love Jesus Christ and our Father have for us. The Hymn, “I Stand All Amazed,” is one of the most sung Sacrament Hymns. I often find myself thinking thoughts similar to the lyrics of this loved song when I ponder the Atonement.

In the Bible we have four accounts of our Savoir suffering in Gethsemane found in Matthew, Mark, Luck & John. I’d first like to talk about the account given in Matthew 26:39-45, which says.
36 ¶Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here,while I go and pray yonder.
37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
42 He went away again the second time, and prayed,saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them,Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Verse 38 is really striking to my heart, our Savoir says, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Here I think that the Savoir is realizing the magnitude of his role in the plan of Salvation. With that realization I feel the savoir begins to feel distressed and troubled, to the point that he wants to die. He was depressed. Did that stop our Savoir? No, he being perfect continued. He Alone went and offered a prayer to his Father saying, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”(Mark 14:36)
Here we see that Christ did not want to suffer. We also see the true nature of Christ, he was willing to follow whatever plan our Father had in store for him and Mankind. In D&C 130:20-21 it says, ” 20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”

Christ knew this principle. We learn the magnitude of Christ’s Atonement in later sections of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. My favorite Description is in Alma 7:11-13.

Something I find interesting about the Saviors experience is that he had an angels help when his apostles didn’t. We will all have that help if we live worthy of it. Heavenly Father loves us and he will send us angels. I am so thankful for the Savior. Without him we would have no way to make it back to the Celestial Kingdom, he is Central in the Plan.

I have now been in the Palmdale 4th ward for what seems like forever! I have been serving in the Palmdale Stake since January 5th and I have been serving in the Palmdale 4th Ward since April 15th. It has been a while! I however am still loving it! I love working as a missionary! It is so fantastic!

My scripture study recently has been super good! I’ve been learning so much! The Book of Mormon has so much to offer us, recently I have been reading in Ether. I finished this morning. I especially love chapter 12 just as most of us do. Hope and Faith combined together really are so amazing.

My new Companion’s name is Elder Gold. He has been in the Bakersfield mission for a week and he is a rockstar! He is from Cheyenne, WY and he knows how to work! He just graduated high school in 2016. It’s pretty sweet!